


you were always gold to me

by the_crownless_queen



Series: Sapphic September 2019 [5]
Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: Christmas, F/F, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Kid Fic, Sapphic September, Sapphic September 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-05
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-10-10 03:34:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20521271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_crownless_queen/pseuds/the_crownless_queen
Summary: “This is gonna be so nice,” Riley mumbles against Maya’s neck as she squeezes enthusiastically. “We’re going to have so much fun!! I’ve never had a sleepover for Christmas before! ”Riley springs back, sitting up with wide eyes. “AChristmasover,”she says, whispering it fervently like a revelation. “A Christmover.”Maya giggles and joins in. “No, asleeptmasover.”





	you were always gold to me

**Author's Note:**

> I just love these girls. They're adorable.
> 
> Written for Sapphic September, Day 5: holiday.  
You can find the prompt list I'm using [here](https://the-crownless-queen.tumblr.com/post/187393992430/sapphic-september-2019)

* * *

** _then_ **

* * *

The Matthews’s home smells like Christmas from a mile away. Somehow, Maya’s surprised by it even though Riley’s been wearing reindeer and Christmas trees jumpers to school for almost a month now.

In her defense, though, she’s pretty sure nobody would expect the giant monstrosity pinned to their door.

_ “How do they even open it?” _ Maya breathes, her eyes wide with horror as she stares at the sparkly — and most likely homemade — decoration.

Her mother laughs. “I’m sure they manage just fine, Maya dear,” she says, raising her hand to knock on the door.

It springs open on her second knock, revealing a grinning couple.

“Merry Christmas!” They shout, gesturing them in with a large smile.

Maya shuffles in carefully — the Matthews are always creepier when they’re acting in unison like this, and her only ally isn’t there yet.

“Katy, Maya, it’s a pleasure to have you here.”

“Thanks, Mrs. Matthews,” Maya mumbles back, but she’s honestly busier trying to find Riley. Her friend usually meets her at the door, especially on nights like this when Maya’s staying over — and this is Christmas eve too, so Riley should be doubly excited, and yet…

“Riley’s in her room,” Mr. Matthews says before she can ask — one more tall in the ‘the Matthews probably have weird psychic powers’ column. He smiles, mischievous and kind. “I think she’s got a surprise for you, but shh, it’s a secret.”

Maya’s halfway across the room before her mother calls her name, bringing her to a stop.

“Maya, dear, no running indoors.” She smiles at Mrs. Matthews tiredly, and puts back a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry, Topanga.”

But Mrs. Matthews shakes her head, still smiling widely. “It’s no problem, really, Katy. We don’t mind.”

“That’s great, but I’d still feel better if Maya would just  _ walk.” _ She says the last part while pointedly staring at her, and Maya rolls her eyes and scuffs her feet.

“I’ll be fine, Mum. I’m not gonna slip or anything.”

Her mother’s face softens. She gestures her closer, and Maya sighs as she walks back, allowing her mother to hug her for five seconds before she pushes back with a scowl.

Maya gets her hair ruffled for her trouble, and she grimaces.

“I just worry, is all,” her mother says.

“She’ll be just fine,” Mrs. Matthews promises. “We’ll get her back to you in one piece, we swear.”

That startles a laugh out of her mother. “I really can’t thank you enough for doing this. I’ve tried to get out of this, but they had no one else to take this shift, and —” She trails off in that way that says ‘grown-up stuff you’re not ready to know about’, and Maya rolls her eyes again.

She’s young, but she’s not stupid. She can tell her mum’s boss is an ass who’s ex-ploi-ting her.

“Of course, Katy. You know we’re always happy to have Maya around — heaven knows our Riley’s ecstatic to have a sleepover on Christmas. You should go meet her, Maya,” Mrs. Matthews adds, looking down at Maya with a smile. “I’m sure she’s waiting impatiently for you.”

Maya glances back at her mother and pouts. “Can I, Mum?”

Her mum sighs, but she’s smiling. “Of course you can, sweetie — but give your mum one last hug before you go, to hold me through the night?”

“... Fine.” Maya means to make it a short one, really, she does, but it’s almost Christmas, and her mum wasn’t supposed to have been working, and Maya loves the Matthews, really, she does, but they’re not the same.

When she pulls back, she’s sniffling a little. “Bye,” she says, eyes firmly locked down onto the ground. “See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, sweets,” her mother replies, pressing a soft kiss on top of her head before gently pushing her toward Riley’s room.

* * *

Stepping into Riley’s room always feels a little like stepping into a dream. A nice one, too, which only makes sense, as all things Riley are nice.

This, however, is a surprise.

The room hasn’t changed much since the last time she was here — two days ago — but it looks like somebody raided a duvet store and put everything inside Riley’s room. Everything — and she does mean  _ everything _ — is covered in soft, fluffy blankets.

And in the center of the room, where Riley’s bed is supposed to be, stands a kind of weird makeshift tent, undoubtedly only held in place there through more Riley magic.

“Did you build us a pillow fort?” Maya asks, gaping a little. She steps inside the bedroom slowly.

“Peaches!” Riley shouts, poking a disheveled head out of her tent-like thing and scrambling to get out of it. “You’re here! Finally!” In her excitement, though, she nearly takes half of it off, and she slides off her bed to land headfirst into the pile of blankets on the ground with a groan.

“Ouch,” Riley says, pouting adorably and rubbing her head.

Maya laughs. “Hi, Riley.”

Riley’s pout doesn’t last, and she springs back to her feet with a wide grin that showcases the two holes in it, where she’s lost her milk teeth.

They’re her last ones, though, and Maya can’t help but smile as she remembers how despondent Riley had been at the perspective of never getting to see the Tooth Fairy ever again.

(Not that Riley had ever  _ actually _ seen it, of course, but the shiny quarters left under her pillow were more than enough evidence for her — and Maya wasn’t about to be the one to tell her otherwise.

Or let anyone do it, for that matter.)

“Hi, Maya.” Riley grins, and then Maya is tackled into a screaming hug that sends the both of them tumbling right back down on the blankets pile.

“This is gonna be so nice,” Riley mumbles against Maya’s neck as she squeezes enthusiastically. “We’re going to have so much fun!! I’ve never had a sleepover for Christmas before! ”

Riley springs back, sitting up with wide eyes. “A  _ Christmasover,” _ she says, whispering it fervently like a revelation. “A Christmover.”

Maya giggles and joins in. “A sleeptmasover,” she suggests. It’s hard to say, and utterly ridiculous, but it’s worth it for the way Riley’s eye light up like Christmas’ lights.

_ “A sleeptmasover,” _ Riley repeats, nodding once, very serious-like.

* * *

The tent-like thing, Riley tells her very seriously later, once they’ve crawled inside without getting buried alive under a mountain of covers and blankets and pillows, is not a pillow fort.

“It’s a secret base,” she whispers.

Maya’s eyes go round. “Really?”

Riley nods, and pulls her pink and sparkly bookbag closer. “Really.” Out of the bookbag, she takes a pink and sparkly notebook. On the cover, the word  _ diary _ is spelled out in crude, black letters — most of the rest of it is covered in shiny stickers.

At Maya’s incredulous look, Riley squirms. “I was feeling bad about the ink,” she confesses in a distressed moan. “It looked so sad all on its own.”

Maya pats her on the shoulder silently, her lips twitching as she holds back her laughter — because of course Riley would have thought that. Of course.

“Okay,” she says. “Why are you showing me your diary though?”

“Shhh!” Riley snaps, dragging Maya in close as she casts suspicious looks around them. “Don’t use the d-word.”

Maya blinks. “O-kay. What is it then, if it’s not a d — that.”

Riley shoots her a blinding thankful grin before continuing. “It’s out secret plan! To catch Santa in the act!”

Maya blinks again. “To… catch… Santa.”

“Mmh-hm.” Riley nods vigorously as she flips her not-diary open. “See?” she asks, pointing down at a red-and-white figure on the page crawling out of what is probably supposed to be a chimney. “It’ll be way easier to stay up since there are two of us this year! We’ll need the milk, of course, and the cookies — Mum and I made them earlier, and we saved a plate just for Santa!”

“You do this  _ every _ year?” Maya asks, incredulous.

Riley nods. “Of course.” She deflates, just a little. “Of course, I don’t always manage to stay up until he comes, but the cookies are always gone in the morning, and the gifts are there, so I know he came!”

… This is the Tooth Fairy thing all over again, Maya realizes with a strange kind of fascinated horror.

She must have been staring for too long, because Riley shifts on the bed.  _ “What?  _ Why are you staring at me like that?”

“No reason,” Maya lies. “Just… You’re pretty great, is all.”

Riley grins widely, as bright as the sun and twice as blinding. “Thanks! You’re pretty great too, Peaches!”

* * *

** _now_ **

* * *

“Do you remember our first Christmas?”

Maya, who had just been starting to fall asleep, groans and buries her head into her pillow with a silent scream.

“Come on, Riles,  _ now? _ It’s two am, can’t we just sleep?”

“Sorry, sorry. I’ll let you sleep, you’re right.”

Riley’s guilty silence, of course, only lasts for about fifteen seconds.

“It’s just, it’s gonna be Christmas again, and I wanted to know if —”

“If I remembered the first time I had to watch your father scarf down all of your mum’s delicious cookies in the middle of the night while wearing a fake beard and hiding a pillow under his shirt?” Maya continues, rolling onto her side so she can stare at Riley with an eyebrow arched.

Riley’s pouting, of course — somehow, that looks more adorable every time Maya sees it, and since she can now, she can’t help but kiss it away.

“Mmh,” Riley hums softly as Maya pulls away, and Maya snorts out a laugh.

“Happy now?” she asks.

Riley snuggles closer. “Always.” But she sighs and keeps squirming.

“What is it?” Maya asks, half-tired, half-fond.

“I just can’t believe my father was working for Santa all this time and he never told me. Do you think he’ll contact us too when we get kids? Ask to help out? That’d be neat.”

Maya’s heart skips a beat, and a helpless kind of smile starts to spread on her lips.

Maya laughs quietly as she presses a kiss to Riley’s hair. “Well, technically, he did in the end.” She kisses Riley’s head again, smiling as her hair tickles her lips. “And don’t think we’re not going to talk about this kid thing in the morning, Riles. I’ve got my eyes on you,” she adds, but of course, Riley doesn’t answer.

Maya pulls back, just a little, just enough to look at Riley’s face.

“... And you’re sleeping.” She huffs out a laugh. “Amazing.”

She sighs and settles deeper into her pillows. “We’ll talk about this,” she whispers, the words half-eaten by a yawn. “We’ll talk…”

She drifts off in the middle of her sentence, and dreams about faceless children she and Riley carry gifts down chimneys for.


End file.
